A Different World
by ShichiroSiachi11
Summary: It is a story of Naruto in college in the modern world trying to change the world through the inventions he has thought about making in the future but he doesn't quite know about life a lot what path he has to follow. He sure is an optimist but to give him direction, he happens to experience something supernatural in a rather dull modern world with no war and peace everywhere.
1. Chapter 1

It was the 20th of July, my first year in college. I loved my life so much and was really looking forward to this new atmosphere with all the new challenges. The campus was so beautiful and knowing that I was an introvert I didn't mind so much walking along in the blissful streets lined with cherry blossoms, their leaves falling to greet you for the journey ahead or something like that. I loved to talk about technology, I mean it's pretty awesome to live and see the world changing everyday some or the other day. It was not the same in the previous decade when I was a child or maybe I couldn't think that much about the world and the future. Heck, again talking to myself.

Life was going as still as an ocean, and "NO", I'm not talking about the small waves which are like the subtle changes happening in life, because overall I am the same person I was last semester. Yeah, one semester has passed away and I am feeling like it's the same life again. I love it but I don't get the feels which I get while thinking about something fictional in my mind. Maybe, I am not that social to start off. I could manage only so many friends. I don't know how will I change the world with all the stuff I have thinking about since the past 6 months, I'm just so lazy, I just need something supernatural to happen in my life. I want to change my character but it's not possible. I just dream every night that the next day would be so awesome and there would be something supernatural happening in my life, but for a tech nerd like me, it's all the same day in and day out.

It was the 10th of April in my second semester. Nothing much to say except that I was disappointed to not see the morning sun falling on those lined cherry blossoms. It was all dull and cloudy out there. I hated it because it made me think a lot which was a problem in itself. As I was entering the main entrance of my college outdoor stadium, something unexpected happened, and no it was not me who reacted to it, not at all. It was something supernatural that possessed my body.

Two guys started arguing about something bullshit out of the blue and the talk looked intense but then the guy with the red shirt was sure strong in his physique hence I assumed that he would win the argument at last, whatever be the case. I started to walk away but suddenly I felt like I was moving towards them and the next moment I took a hit from the red guy standing there. I don't even know why I was there, was it me thinking a lot again. Heck, I forgot to tell you that sometimes I think so much that sometimes I even forget half of what's happening in real life that moment. Should I consider it something supernatural or should I attribute it to my laziness? Who is to answer this? I can't even comprehend what shit I am talking about now.

Back to the real world, the red guy was surprised to see me take the hit and no, it was not the first hit. He already made the thin one puke blood from his mouth a few moments ago. Maybe the scene of blood was intolerable for me. I love everything in this life because humans can control pretty much everything but there is one thing that I do not agree with and that is…

I tried to shove off the red guy from the location by pushing him off by tapping his chest and I guess it was not the right method after all. Another punch and heck, blood was coming out of my lips and there we go again. I started thinking that what would happen if some faculty member sees me here and I am suspended from giving the exams and what about my masterplans which I have to execute in my lifetime. Heck, it was a Sunday and there were neither faculty and not staff members to be the spectators. All I could do was stand there and take the beating for him, and no I was engrossed in my inner world so much otherwise I wouldn't have so much cared about the guy who I was a taking a beating for because he had already run away, God knows where. It kind of seemed like I was in a different dimension where I have exchanged places with him. Is it possible that I changed dimensions? Oh my God! As mad as I am, even when taking a beating I was overwhelmed by the happiness of the curiosity in my brain. Again, the same question popped in my mind, is it something supernatural or jus the laziness of my body taking over.

I couldn't bear it; the pain became unbearable. I signalled him to stop and immediately asked him why he was beating me in a tone which I never have experienced in my life. I told myself that if he can give a pretty reason for his actions, I would walk away or else…heck, I could do nothing, lazy as I am. But the red guy had his gaze fixed somewhere else, he was looking as a reptile in the water waiting to hunt the deer. I was so scared but then a hand pulled me back. As I was going back, I was amazed by the sheer number of people standing there as I started blushing like hell to not able to confront him in any way even if he was wrong and I was right. As I looked forward, I saw a thin man standing in front of me, pretty tall but lean and weak, but his calmness could be compared to some priest meditating in the Himalayas. The red guy started getting angry and called out his name in disgust. "Itachi, why in the world are you here? Do you want to prove that you are more worthless than that brat behind you?" He didn't move an inch, never spoke a word, just stood there, most probably waiting for the right moment to counteract. It was as if he was thinking something, just like me, lost in his dreams before something as important as this. A moment later he took a 360 look of the whole crowd including me as if to expect some cheering up for the courage he showed to take up the front stage. And then there was, the supernatural thing just happened in front of my eyes.

Just as the red guy started charging I could see the glow in Itachi's eyes. It all went red. Heck, eyes could be green, blue, black, whatever but not red unless he was trying to use contact lenses which changed colour according to the emotion he is feeling. Could he be from the future? could he be from another timeline? Well just moments later I could feel the silence around the area I couldn't hear a thing because what happened in front of my eyes, I couldn't believe it because it was really…SUPERNATURAL. The red guy started flying up in the air, God knows how and he started trembling with fear and maybe excitement because the thought of flying is impulsive enough to excite a human. What was surprising was that Itachi asked the same question which I asked him a few moments ago. "Why did you hit me?"

"ME" … as if it was not me who took the beating and it was all him fighting all out from the beginning or maybe he was trying to put some psychological implication to the red guy to understand the bond between humans and how everybody is one entity. I felt the same supernatural feeling, did I change dimensions again? Is it a third world where I am the first kid who was arguing and he is the saviour? Heck, my curious mind couldn't analyse that and I was so confused that I thought of believing what I was seeing, as if it was so "NORMAL".

Itachi: Why did you hit me? What is the purpose of all this fight? You cannot blankly hit another person. Our lives are our lives; however miserable they might be. Humans are born with a mission, to do something great for the next generation. And everybody contributes to that every second. As you talk with your family and friends, you make them happy. As you argue, your conversation relates to new knowledge which ultimately results in the betterment of people around you. But fighting, and that too blood, it just proves that you are making his life miserable.

Red guy: But, he started it. Why doesn't he accept my theory? Why did he mock me in front of everybody last Friday? It was he who was cheered on by faculty and friends. It was as if at that time, I never existed in this world, I was side-lined. How can you supposedly understand what I went through these two nights? Even if I talked with friends, they would bring his name in between conversations and I had to cut out. It was as if I didn't want to see him and the more I avoided him, the lonelier I was since the conversations this weekend were all related to him and I wanted to avoid that. How are you supposed to judge that, huh?

Itachi thinking: Now I will make him realise how mean his thoughts are and what is real loneliness. I have to put him through hell in order to make him realise what he is as a human and how much he has to learn in his life. Retro art would be best to make him see the lonely world and feel how it is to go even deeper in loneliness, it is just the beginning.

It was at this moment that Itachi held himself upside down and widened his eyes as if telling him to run away. The red guy started crying out for help and it was as if others were helpless looking at awe to the hanging friend in mid-air and more so because they knew that he was the culprit.

Itachi: How do you feel now? Have you ever thought that you are worthless in this world and nobody cares about you? Have you ever thought what a world without humans would look like? Have you ever gone out of your mind and thought of the "SUPERNATURAL"? However, intelligent you might be, I can clearly see the difference in you. You cannot think outside of the normal. You cannot imagine a world without a support of friends, family and the general days. You are never happy on yourself. In fact, for you, happiness is something which can only be generated by others and hence you are non-existent when others ae not there. But this time I ask the same question you asked me a little while earlier…." How could you possibly understand what is going through me?" Have you ever questioned the loneliness of the other guy who was standing in front of you?

Wait? Who? Was he talking about me or the other guy who left the "ARENA" earlier crying out. I am not in the same class as him and I never really win some accomplishment and friends. I was just some regular lonely guy happened to pass by at the moment, right or wrong only time can tell. I thought that the conversation was totally misunderstood from the point of who they were referring to but it didn't matter, it was not a fight of strength, it was a fight of truth and ethical thinking.

Itachi (continued): Have you ever seen him walk the streets? Have you ever seen him sitting in the cafeteria alone? Have you ever seen him talk to waving to friends happen to pass by on the road?

God! That sure was rude and depressing.

Itachi (continued): Have you ever seen how lonely he is in his life. What bad does it does to you if he got the chance to make some new friends. Is it wrong? Isn't it what life is for? To make others life blissful and happy. Even if you have to sacrifice your weekend chill out with friends, is it not considerable of you to sacrifice your time for one of your classmates who is struggling in life to prove that he exists?

Struggling? Really? At this moment, I wished I could stop him as I was embarrassed and wanted to say him that I was not the guy he meant.

I couldn't bear the painful shrieks of the red guy as if he was mentally hurt from his statements and couldn't bear it. How could somebody be so much moved with this simple statements of life which everybody knows, right? Sure, there were clouds but there was no rain to give effect to Itachi's statements.

Suddenly, the shrieking stopped and I could hear the raindrops sprinkling down the field. It sure was sprinkling very lightly but the fact is that it was raining. And the red guy was on his knees looking at the blank road as if lost. Itachi was standing there, tall but his eyes were black. It was as if the "SUPERNATURAL" didn't happen and I was only dreaming out there as usual. The red guy cried out that he understands what went through his friend and how mean was he to think bad about him, even when they were in the same class. He cried his heart out that day and I could see the happiness in his cry to finally understand something he didn't as a person. Itachi came towards me and said something in my ears and went out all alone. The red guy was nowhere to be seen. Maybe he headed home too. I stood there thinking was this all real and what he just said me, it was not meant for me, right? I should have told him that.

It was 12th of April when I was walking down the street when I saw the red guy hanging out with someone. On close inspection, I remembered that it was the same guy that day he was fighting with. I guess they already got the message and felt in no need to tell them what Itachi told me the other day. The fight was supernatural or not, I felt happy in myself. I never got to see Itachi, though. On further inspection, I found out that he had been suspended from college for a week for bullying a guy. There was a staff who came in later a and was watching all the commotion Itachi made with his speech.

It was just like yesterday, the same sun sparkling on those cherry blossoms, the leaves withering out as if to greet me for the journey ahead. The ever-changing technology. Just there was one change, I started making friends, I don't know I liked it or not but I truly understood that one cannot alone spread happiness just like that. I have to start small. I wanted to do something big for the society bit I was so lazy that all I could do was think what I could do. Man, if Itachi was not there that day. True or not, I want to believe that what he said was not just for the red guy or the one who ran away or really for me. He wanted to say to the world what it is to live your life happily and at the same time share your happiness. It just like the blood types if you come to think of it. O+ can give blood to anybody but they cannot take blood from them, well we never mind. In real world, there are people who generate and people who consume. This world was never meant to be equal in emotions because then we will never be bonding.

I am more than happy to be sharing my happiness to others and all this nerd stuff. People like it and I never knew that they will because I just assumed. Well, finally I would like to say the thing Itachi told me that day. He said, "Don't just assume. It makes an ass out of you and me." And that's it.

Dear diary, I hope you enjoyed the experience I shared with you. Yours lovingly, Naruto Uzumaki. And what he really told me was that, "You cannot find the supernatural unless it's you believing it".


	2. Chapter 2

A Different World

8 months have passed since that day and here I am in my junior year (3rd year) of my college. Naruto, it's time to show to the world your greatness. No more hiding, no more thinking, time to implement the plans. The past year was a wonderful one for me as most of my time went into thinking of new projects and making new friends.

I didn't get to introduce myself to you properly, my dear clone on the other side of the mirror. I'm Naruto Uzumaki from Konoha, the village hidden in the leaves except that it is not a village anymore and is sort of a developing city. My college, Tokyo Central Research (TCR) university is one of the top destinations for aspiring people for just about anything related to science. My best friend Shikamaru is from Akihabara, the electronics and anime district of Tokyo. I believe we became best friends while our time as classmates last semester. We constantly competed with each other and would go into late night arguments about the most insane technology trends in the world. The worst thing and at the same thing which defined our friendship was that we both were lazy and so although we took opposite sides for every f*#king topic out there, we understood each other deeply. I also met new people like Akamaru, Choji, Ino and a few others. I love Ichiraku ramen so much that I cannot live without it. My aim is to become one of the pioneers of science in this world as of this century and believe me, I will achieve it soon. Jaa ne (Okay, then!).

This was the month of November. Autumn was over and winter had set in. The cherry blossoms had shed its last leaves of joy. It was time for the first snowfall here in Tokyo. I live in a rented room in Shinjuku and it takes half an hour for me to reach my college. Why Shinjuku? Because I like to walk these busy streets so that even if I'm not talking to anyone in general, it doesn't feel lonely. And speaking of blissful time, I visit the Shinjuku Gyoen national park on the weekends. That's it! Don't get me wrong but I don't have a girlfriend here.

Naruto: Room No. 343. Ohayou Gozaimasu, Sensei.

Sensei: Naruto, don't you have any sense of time. You are five minutes late. No attendance for today's class.

Naruto: Sumimasen, Sensei. I was lost in….

Sensei: in your virtual world in your mind. Right?

I always knew that sensei had a soft side for me even when she scolded me. I can see it in her smile. I sat down next to Shikamaru and the class started. We were talking about concepts of how the brain of humans can be interconnected so we don't need a computer at all and connections between people will be direct from head to head.

Ino: Sumimasen, Sensei. I suggest that we make use of biological cells for the pathway of the mesh to be implanted. The mesh will be covered my layers of biological fluids which will disintegrate as needed and the final layer will place the electronic chip in position, not to mention the final layer should be similar enough to tap energy from the brain and feed it to the mesh. Not to mention, we have to change the electronics to a scale less than 0.1 nanometers. We sure would inject more but the power consumption would be in limits of the human brain so that everybody would be able to use it without practice or pre-requisite.

Ino was as smart as ever. We could never beat her in such out of the world discussions. She was a charming girl since she liked outing with us and enjoyed at times whenever she got the chance. The best thing about her was that she could balance her life so well.

After the class, I went out with Shikamaru to devour a large sub in the cafeteria as I forgot to take my breakfast in the morning. Well, in the way something wonderful happened. We saw Shizune-san, our sensei with Kakashi-sensei. Kakashi-sensei was in-charge of the second batch in our wing. I have heard that his class contains one of the elite students in the whole university. Anyways, Shizune-sensei was blushing so much in front of him that we could not control our laughter and had to run away from there. Sure, Kakashi-sensei is good looking but I think our sensei has a crush on him. It's just natural, young as she is. She became a head scientist in the field of human anatomy, especially neuroscience at the tender age of 24 and now she is just 26 years old.

Naruto: What about our master plan? Should we implement it?

Shikamaru: What? We can never implement our plan unless we make a lot of money and popularity so that people support us. That's why we first need to make something so interesting that people would like us, NO, they will love us. Yes, we have to make that game.

Naruto: GAME? Are you serious about that? Common, we are aspiring pioneers. We cannot waste our time on some stupid game. Let's ask Tsunade-san once again.

Shikamaru: You mean the head of our university? We have approached her once and she doesn't believe us. Now is not the right time to approach her. In order to win her, we have to prove that we are worth the time. Don't be impatient Naruto. It's just the beginning.

Naruto: But to make that possible we need the neural lace commercialised, don't you think? But it would be a decade if we wait for that to happen. We would have to think of an alternative.

Shikamaru: Alternative?

Naruto: I know what we will do.

Ino: What?

Shikamaru and Naruto (surprised): Since when?...

Shikamaru: are you listening to our conversations?

Ino: No, was just [passing by when you gave a grin on your mouth while babbling out the last line and so I took concern. It's not like you can talk about some high-level shit. Can you?

Naruto: What do you think of yourself? We are totally capable of doing anything in this world.

Ino: Is that so?

Naruto: Yeah! (Ino couldn't have expected a funnier face from him at this moment)

Ino: Then propose that girl sitting 150 degrees right of you…

Shikamaru: I'm out of it!

Naruto: You could have just said South-east. Why the damn angle?

Ino: Whatever. You are definitely going to lose it. Be ready to treat me at the Dango shop.

Naruto: What! I never accepted that challenge!

Shikamaru (mumbling to himself): I know where it is going. I bet the fool will definitely fall for it.

I turned my head towards the girl and I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw her. It was as if somebody had put a syringe in my heart. The pain was acute, as if I had a crush on her in the first glance. No, I am one of the best out here and I don't believe in crushes but I couldn't stop the surge of electric pulses passing through my heart at a rate I believe to be the difference between current rate to the normal rate of 72 beats per minute.

Ino: Naruto, you are the child of prophecy. You have to become the pioneer of this century. How will you if you cannot even propose a girl?

Naruto: You are right!

I took a deep breath and that's it. There was no backing down now. Approaching the girl was fine but there was a guy sitting in front of her and it made me all the more nervous.

Naruto: Hi, have we met somewhere?

The girl: No, I don't think so.

Naruto (a little softly): Can you tell me who is sitting right next to you?

The guy: I can hear you. It's so kind of you to consider me in third person (an angry expression).

Naruto: No. I was about to ask you but she didn't introduce herself so I thought of asking about you then.

The guy: Well, I'm Gaara and she is Temari. She is my sister. She is in her junior year. Well, I'm about to graduate.

Naruto: Gaara, where are you from?

Gaara: I'm from Osaka. It's pretty far away and so we stay here in the dormitories.

I was becoming mad as time passed by and I started making weird faces towards Ino and I wanted to back-off but Ino indicated that I would have to treat her the whole week if I back off at this point. There was only one thing left to do.

Naruto: Temari, I think I have a crush on you. Will you like to go on a date with me?

Temari: Where did that come from?

Gaara: That does it. I knew from the beginning that you had some bad intentions.

Naruto: Please, it's just a date. What is the problem in this?

Temari: I have no interest in guys like you.

That was the last line I could take in. I couldn't analyse the following lines uttered from Gaara and they both walked out of the cafeteria. I felt so lost. What am I talking? I won. The challenge was just to propose, right?

I sat down quietly back at the table where Ino and Shikamaru were sitting, staring at the blank wooden table, waiting for some response.

Ino: You lost.

Naruto: How did I? I proposed her and that was the challenge.

Ino: You fool! What's the point of the point of the challenge when a Yes or a No is not in the deciding factor?

Naruto: Shikamaru say something?

Shikamaru: Ino is right, if you had only kept your big mouth shut.

Naruto: You are taking her side even when you're my best friend. I believe you two are in "LOVE" …

Shikamaru and Ino: You idiot! Take this!

And next thing was an intense pain on both of my ears.

Ino: Meet me at 6:00 in the Dango shop.

Naruto: You're not serious, we are friends, right?

Ino: Yeah, we are friends, and that's why I'm dead serious.

The look in her eyes made me shiver a little. I can never understand girls whatever science I study in my life. She went out to attend her next session.

Later in the afternoon, Shikamaru had to meet up with Sai and Hinata. They both are good friends of Shikamaru and they know each other from the beginning of the college. I was in the lab working out some scaled down version of one of my ideas. I found out that when wind energy is concentrated at a small place and alpha particles are bombarded at the right moment in the spiral, the nitrogen helps in making a spherical shell which is vacuum as the oxygen escapes out but then you get a narrow interval of time to fill it with hydrogen as much as you can after which the nitrogen layer becomes fast enough to repel even hydrogen from entering or escaping. It is just like a layer. This method can be used to propel future heavy vehicles as these are safe enough for an automated process. I mean automated vehicles can never miscalculate the time between the evacuation of oxygen and starting the process of filling hydrogen. Speaking of hydrogen, we are not running out of it unless the whole universe is destroyed.

In the evening, I walked down the streets of Tokyo. It is never alone here. People are omnipresent. The sun had set in and it was quite dark. The street lights had been put on. I liked the fact that the world cared about the environment so much. Last year, all the street lights had been converted to LED and as you know LED give more light for less so it also left quite spaces between the poles. It was good to see modern artwork installed here and there to make the general public realise the importance of nature. I reached the Dango shop at 6:35 and thought I was late but when I checked my WhatsApp she had already sent a message to me. I waited for her. Ino shouted to me from far. I could see that she was happy. She had to apologise to the people passing through though, for shouting. She was wearing a sport outfit. Since when did she start jogging. As if I know a lot, I have never gone out with her alone anytime now. The only occasions were when we all friends gathered together to enjoy in the semester break.

Ino: Hey, Naruto. Thanks for waiting. I hope you are not waiting for me since 6. It's pretty cold out here.

Naruto: Yeah, I'm.

Ino: Why, you could have called me, you idiot! (Laughs). I guess…

Naruto: I was joking. I came here at 6:35.

Ino: Wait, what? That does mean you didn't check the message because if you had then you would have come here at 7. I was thinking of relieving you from your treat but now you have to treat me at Ichiryaku's.

Naruto: That's insane!

Ino: No excuses.

We walked down the streets talking in general about life outside the university.

Naruto: Do you jog regularly?

Ino: It sure is regular but just on Fridays and the weekends. I love to spend time in the Ueno park.

Naruto: Woah, there! You are wearing a full Adidas gear. Must be pretty expensive?

Ino: Nah! I have already used these for two years now. It has already provided its value to me. I know the plan was to eat there but my bad.

At Ichiryaku, I ordered two full bowls of shoyu while she ordered a tonkotsu.

Ino: Do you know why I called you here?

Naruto: Well, because I lost to your challenge.

Ino (sighing): Well, that is one thing but the other thing was that I felt lonely today and thought of spending time with you.

Naruto: Huh! You have a crush on me?

Ino: Huh! Don't consider it in one of the possibility in the near future.

I could see the emotion expressed by her. She looked kind of down.

Naruto: What is the matter?

Ino: It's nothing. I just wanted to thank you for being my friend. I just could not have thought of somebody better than you as a friend. You are so charming and light-headed. I am sorry but I envy you. People think that I have a great personality, that I manage things so easily but that is not the case at all. Not a year ago. Naruto. I'm telling you this because I feel that you are close enough friend to me and you need to know the reality.

Naruto: I'm listening

Ino: When I joined this college, I had this high aspiration of doing something great as quick as possible because time flies by. I always supported science and never thought about emotions as a whole. I cared about people, that's for sure. But when it came as a standpoint to choose between people and science, I always went with science. You see, I was popular among the students from the junior year in the first semester because of my contributions and my wit. (Laughs). But then a horrible thing happened and somewhere I feel that I am the one responsible for the event. Senior student started ignoring me. I felt lonely. I didn't had friends from my batch as I didn't spend much time there in the classes. I cried a lot during my second semester. I was totally out of mind. I couldn't continue being that same girl. I couldn't continue my research. But then, I met Shikamaru in the 2nd year. He was the one guy who had no problem being my friend. He didn't care what others thought. He always supported me and you could say, he saved me. He helped me in making new friends, friends like you, friends who supported me so much. I could see my vision once more. I felt lively and I could continue my research. Those two years made me experience that nothing comes prior to relationships. And that's why this time I have thought to work even harder, and work in an integrated environment for the benefit of both my friends and the world.

Naruto: Woah! I didn't know that you had such a deep side of thoughts. You know, that is life. We have to go through these harsh moments. I don't know why are you sad but believe me, these moments don't make you fall down in grace, these mistakes help you rise even greater and make you mature in some or the other way. You get to see the world as a different one from the last time you were awake. Everything that happens is for your good. You will realise it in time.

We finished our ramen and I thought of walking her home. And so, I did it. We didn't talk at all on her way home. She felt sad but content that she was able to share her feelings. I was thinking about my own life back then two years ago. How lonely I was then but I didn't care about anyone. Mean! Was it my fault or the fault of the society? Maybe both. When we reached, I suddenly asked her what was eating my mind away.

Naruto: What happened back then?

Ino: You really want to know it?

Naruto: Yes, I will not be able to sleep if I don't know what happened after knowing all of the other stuff.

Ino: Do you know that neural lacing has already been achieved in mice.

Naruto: Yeah! And now it has to be tested in humans. Probably till next year the perfect model will be made.

Ino: It had already been tested on humans.

Naruto: Oh! WHAAAT? How is that possible?

Ino: Yeah! And it was Itachi Uchiha of the junior year who passed the test.

Naruto: Itachi? You know him?

Ino: I know him since high-school. We met each other and found out that we had pretty similar goals. The only difference was that he was two years older than me. In fact, I should ask you the same. How do you know him?

Naruto: No, it was just that day. I have met him once in my lifetime. He is like some invisible guy. I have seen people multiple times in this college but not him.

Ino: He was the only one powerful enough to handle the microelectronic circuit normally with his brain but he felt a sort of weakness in the beginning before adapting to it. We performed a second experiment the next week and (tears coming out) it was the biggest mistake. We knew that microelectronics was not adaptive enough for the brain and Itachi had to go through hard times but then also we went for another. We could not stop our greed for achieving more in as less time as possible and neglected the risks it had. Do you remember the death of a guy due to asphyxiation due to fear of closed rooms?

Naruto: Yeah! It was Shi…Shisui.

Ino: Well, he didn't die because of a closed room, he died because the brain didn't get enough oxygen and energy to maintain the neural lace and before it would stabilise, he was dead in the second day. We were fools, we didn't have the means to remove it also. We never thought of the risks involved. Removing it would have taken a year. But a year is enough for a person to love something. There is no point in making a method which removes a thing in a year. And it was me who encouraged Shisui for this, it was me. It was my fault.

Ino (in a broken voice): Itachi has been alone since then. He feels that it was his fault because if he wouldn't have tried so hard to control it, the experiment would have been delayed. Itachi is powerful as he can control people's brains for some time even without them having a neural lace. Both were talented but the experiment sure had its own risks. Tsunade-san was really sad about the tragedy and so she has poured her heart and soul to make safety as the first principle in science. I also knew him, and so it is also my duty to contribute to this as much as possible. After all, Shisui too wanted that.

Ino literally started crying after that. In this chilling cold, I couldn't think of something else but to hug her. She was surprised at first but she felt calm now. It was as if she needed this for a very long time. Someone's shoulder to cry out as much as possible. I didn't tell her about that fight that day. Thought of saving it for some other time since it was late and I didn't want to make her remember more of that time today. I went back to Shibuya after calming her down and waving her Goodbye.

Another day and I'm here in room no.412.

Iruka sensei was in-charge of teaching us the basics of engineering instruments. He was the only one qualified for teaching us the practical side of the instruments used in day to day lives and in the labs for the advancement of technology. Sure, I loved to study in his class. Practical classes were awesome but we had to be careful, the instruments were pretty costly.

After the class, I thought of continuing with my own research. On my way, I saw a guy, standing on the lonely corridor, staring at nothing. He wore a blue cotton T-shirt and had pretty long hair. His face showed the expression of sadness. Well, I don't know him by name but I have heard that he is one of the best in Kakashi sensei's class. I would love to work with him some day if he is really so talented, maybe next year.

I knew I was pretty much close to making my research a reality. But first, we needed to popularise them by releasing them in a more informative way to the general public, especially the youth of today. Heck, I also come in the same category. So, in a sense I'm representing myself. Well, I started learning python and C++ just for this purpose. Whether I am professional or not, I would never know. And today is the execution of the plan to Tsunade-san for consideration.

In the cafeteria, I didn't see Ino or Shikamaru. Maybe they were busy with their work and it was also a Saturday. Attendance was not compulsory for those who are engaged in research. Although, I saw someone whom I proposed the previous day and guess what? She was alone. Nobody to interrupt. I felt as if this was my chance and I should take it. I was nervous but I went to her and asked her about her purpose for coming to this college.

Naruto: Hey, Temari. Can I ask you a question?

Temari: Well, yeah!

Naruto: What is it that you are studying here?

Temari: Oh, I'm studying wind chemistry so that in the future wind can used as and when necessary by sheer will power.

Naruto: Will power. How can somebody control wind just by thinking?

Temari: It's not like controlling just by your mind. By will power, I mean it would be so affordable and easy to use that people would not have to think about it twice. And children will get accustomed to the technology just because of their curiosity.

Naruto: Oh, I see.

Temari: Well, what is your purpose?

Naruto: Mine! Well, I have a special thing in mind which I can't disclose. Just be my guest on the day it will be brought to light.

Temari: That's not fair. I am going.

Naruto: Matte! (Wait). Actually, the product is pretty much complete and it's so awesome that if I tell you here… I mean can't you handle a little bit of suspense.

Temari: Well, OK.

Naruto: Umm, if you find my product interesting, can I ask you on a date?

Temari: Where did that come from?

Naruto: Look, I don't think that if I ask you directly, you will accept any of my requests. Think about it as a small challenge.

Temari: Let's see…. Fine! I accept it.

Naruto: Who knows, if I can convince you with my brains, maybe one day I would convince you with my heart.

Temari: Not happening.

Naruto: Well, what is it about your brother? Why is he so thick-skinned?

Temari: Well, he takes things a little more seriously than others. That's all. He thinks about his surroundings a lot. I don't know. It's pretty difficult to understand although I'm his sister.

Naruto: Well, introduce him to me. I am just the right person to drill some sense into him.

Temari (Laughs): You look like somebody who remains cheerful the whole time.

Naruto: Well, yeah! So, are we friends?

Temari: Don't you think so.

Naruto: Yeah, I hope that's the case. Well, I got to go. Let's meet later.

On my way, I saw the same guy with the gloomy face. I went to have conversation with him.

Naruto: Hey! Are you Okay?

The blue guy: Yeah! Just thinking about something.

Naruto: Have we met somewhere? What's your name?

The blue guy: Well, I don't think we have ever met. Well, I can say that we are in the same year because we have attended conferences together. I'm Sasuke Uchiha and I'm in Kakashi sensei's class.

Naruto: Then you must be one of the toppers Shikamaru tells me about. And you said Uchiha. Do you have a relative here in the university?

Sasuke: Well, I had a relative. But now he is not here.

Naruto: Is it…. Is it Itachi?

Sasuke: Don't take his name (In an anxious voice). I'm sorry.

Naruto: What is it?

Sasuke: It's nothing. Just leave me alone for now. You don't have to take up my personal space. I don't even know you properly.

Naruto (thinking): Well, let's meet later. Nice to meet you.

I couldn't stop thinking why Sasuke was anxious when I took Itachi's name. Well, Ino can help me with this. She must be knowing about him pretty much.

There was not much to do this Saturday, I guess. I thought of heading back home early so that I can relax a bit in the park and also give some finishing touches to my, rather our collective masterpiece. We are going to be popular soon Shikamaru. On my way, I saw a girl sitting on a bench. I thought of passing by but I couldn't take the fact that what is she doing sitting out on such a cold day. Was she waiting for someone? I went to her and asked about the situation.

Naruto: Hey, are you waiting for someone?

The girl: Yeah! It's my brother.

Naruto: Oh, are you a friend of Shikamaru. I have seen you quite a few times with him.

The girl: Yeah, I remember you. You always hang out with him, right? (Laughs)

Naruto: Why are you laughing?

The girl: It seems like you enjoy a lot of time in this college. I wish I was so open-minded like you.

Naruto: Well, don't you enjoy the college?

The girl: Well, of course. I didn't mean to say that. I meant that I have never seen anybody as lively as you. I feel that you are… kind of cool. (Blushes)

Naruto: I you are complementing me, I respect you. It's the first time I got a complement from a girl on the first meeting.

The girl (Blushing): Well, really?

Naruto: Yeah! Wait, now I remember your name. You are Hinata, right?

Hinata (Fiddling with her fingers): Yeah! That's right. Naruto.

Naruto (surprised): You know my name?

Hinata (becoming anxious): It's not like that. Shikamaru always likes to tell me about you.

Naruto: Oh, that's great. But what were you implying. It's not like what?

Hinata (face going red): Nice to meet you! I think I should move.

Naruto: But aren't you waiting for your brother?

Hinata: Oh, right! I should just check on him.

And she walked away inside. Weird girl. How does Shikamaru manages her. Well, on my way to home. I reached home and took a bath with hot water. Then I opened my laptop and started to test run the product. It was a game. Yeah, I had been following the research of the whole college and made a game out of those researches. Well, I have given interesting names to those things but it's a game nobody has experienced before, a world nobody has imagined before. Its uniqueness will put VRMMORPG's like Sword Art Online to shame. Well, SAO was good though. I liked it so much but now it's my time for a change. Since it's my game, I have kept my attack quite strong from the others but to be fair it has more levels and it will be more difficult to master.

Shikamaru: Hey! How is it going?

Naruto: It's complete now. We have tested it more than enough.

Shikamaru: Yeah! Finally, after 3 years. And that too because you let me tag in, or else imagine the time it would have taken. You could have included more people to make it faster.

Naruto: Nope! More people means more trouble. We have done it quite in time by sacrificing our sleep.

Shikamaru: My sleep! You sure worked a lot but you never were the one to pull all-nighters.

Naruto: Well, look at this Shikamaru. It's so amazing. People die for a clan system in VRMMORPG. And we will bring it to the augmented side. Our product will be far more loved because of the amount of fiction and creativity we have put in. Humans have this general tendency to love what they don't have. Yes, we are sure greedy and we will provide them their greed. Gun Gale Online is one and only ARMMORPG out till now. It sure is nice but it has nothing more creative than what we see in the real world. Heck, we can even say that it may increase violence in some or the other way. But ours will be completely unique, a game inspired totally by nature and science. A game which promotes awareness for our earth as well as ethical values like friendship and it will help understand the issues of gender discrimination because of the new clan system in this virtual world.

Shikamaru: Are you OK? I have never heard you so serious.

Naruto (with a still face): No, I am perfectly fine. This was the moment I was waiting for. This will just be the beginning, there is more of it to come from me or rather us once we can acquire the money and trust through these.

Shikamaru: Yeah, right! Big dreamer.

Here comes Sunday, as always I am supercharged after the wonderful sleep of Saturday. But today is different. Heck, I cannot even think what will happen after the game will be released. Tsunade-san had already made preparations for the official release date of the product with the concerned board and distributors for rights and other formal stuff. It is really a difficult process. I have to thank everyone after all of this is over because I know this wouldn't have been possible by doing everything myself. It's not as simple as releasing an android app where you have to pay a small amount to become a developer and then you can release any app pf your choice. Well, it's a little expensive and difficult in iOS but it's more or less same. We had to also collaborate with LogOne, the only AR headset producer with the most advanced technologies at a very reasonable price. I would not say they sell cheap, but the experience in it far exceeds other sellers with a very slight price difference.

The event was supported by a huge crowd of admirers. I was feeling so different when I was giving my speech. I couldn't stop thinking about the time that had passed away with every beating of my heart and what was yet to come. Nobody would ever know what is to come, but we all have the small positive feeling to hang on to. That something great will happen today, something great tomorrow. I felt so excited, I cried. Yes, I cried. I was so busy that day, I could say it was the only day I didn't talk to myself. Sure, there were a lot of beta-testers whom I had to thank. I denied them every time they tried to contact me. It was Shikamaru who would help establish platform for beta-testers and all the necessary changes suggested by them was made by him. I felt so bad after meeting them that I didn't want to support them. I was being mean.

In the night, it was the three of us. I invited them to my room in Shinjuku.

Shikamaru: So, I think we have already reached our mark of a 1000 orders.

Ino: Well, it has crossed 10,000!

Naruto: Amazing, right! Should we play now.

Shikamaru: Don't you want your ramen, Naruto?

Naruto: Yeah, of course!

Ino: And the letters!

Naruto: Obviously! They are expecting me to throw up a party sometime. Wait, what? Letters? From whom?

Shikamaru: From your mom and dad for sure.

Ino: You are right! But there's one from Itachi and one from Neji.

Shikamaru: Neji? I don't get it. Why would Neji send a letter to Naruto specifically. He doesn't know him, at least till today. Is he that pure in heart to well-wish anybody?

Ino: Well, Naruto can see them later and tell about it.

Shikamaru: Yeah, yeah! But you never told me you knew Itachi.

Ino: Yeah, I also didn't expect you to be close. Did you know him that well?

Naruto: Do you want to know how we met?

Shikamaru: I'm curious.

Ino: Right, that day you wanted to ask me something more about him, I guess?

And then I told them about that fight and misunderstanding. It was so magical at that moment; how could I describe them? I had not yet started my research, and so it was something supernatural for me. The whole fight was about ethics but the indirect science was pretty baffling too. Now it all feels so obvious.

Shikamaru: So, it was you who was messing with the guy. Finally, the mystery is solved. I never got to know that you were there.

Naruto: That means you know who the others were?

Ino: Huh! They were Yahiko and Nagato. They were senior to Itachi that time. Final year students. But they knew about the incident and despised him. But that fight changed everything, at least between them, if not others.

Naruto: But they didn't have neural laces. Heck, even I didn't have one. How did he control our minds?

Shikamaru: Well, he is a prodigy. The only one in the whole world to be gifted with the ability to control others mind, or rather others thoughts would be more precise. He cannot control you like a robot. Think of it as his side effect for surviving the initial pain of the neural lace. Being bigger than the neural laces made today…

Ino: Wait! As a student purely researching in this field, I should explain it to him.

Shikamaru: Huh? Whatever, go on. Take the glory.

Ino: The neural lace Itachi has is too distinct from neural laces made today. If you gave attention in the class, you might remember than once a neural lace becomes a part of the brain and the brain to accept it as own of its own parts, the brain is upgraded. The neural lace Itachi has can produce pretty strong waves in the vicinity and alter the part where you dream () and where you perceive ().

Naruto: But then, what about those eyes?

Shikamaru: Are you that dumb? Red is a strong colour. A red eye can drive your attention and make your brain blank with only one thought in mind, the thought of those eyes. It made it easier for him to concentrate on your mind.

Naruto: Now, I get it. Wow! Science could do wonders, right?

Ino: So, a pretty science breakthrough, huh?

Shikamaru: Yeah, I agree!

Naruto: I can't believe it. I think I have to work even harder if I want to be known for something cooler than this.

Ino: Really, something like Batman, dark and well-defined but right in decision.

Shikamaru and Naruto: That's too much.

Ino: What? You guys cannot believe that a girl follows Batman?

Naruto: No, it's nothing.

And we all enjoyed a night which I bet would be stored in my hippocampus (the part of the brain responsible for storing the strongest of memories).

After they went home, I was so tired that I couldn't think of reading those letters. I slept in an instant.


End file.
